Docker goes broader — supporting more Linux distros out of the box

Docker, the popular container technology that, in theory, lets developers encapsulate their apps and run them on bare metal, virtualized and private or public cloud environments, now supports nearly all the major Linux distributions right out of the box.

Before now, the Docker 0.7 release supported Debian and Ubuntu Linux, but now Red Hat, Suse and Gentoo are added to the mix, the company said. To be clear, developers could run Docker on the other Linux distros before, but that required them to do some contortions using AnotherUnionFS or AUFS and then recompile their kernel which, let’s face it, could be complicated and not all that invigorating. And, by doing so, they could endanger their RHEL support contract coverage.

The beauty of Docker is that it lets developers keep using the languages and frameworks of their choosing but then deploy their application widely. In that regard, many view it as an open-source PaaS, worthy of mention in the same sentence as Cloud Foundry etc. The Docker project is backed in commercial form by Docker Inc., once known as dot.cloud. The company named former Gluster CEO and industry veteran Ben Golub as CEO in July.